An Unexpected Change
by LittleCinderGirl
Summary: Craig has screwed up everything with Manny, and now, he must talk to her best friend, Emma, to figure everything out. Ashley trys to be there for him (they never dated and are still friends in this story) and Craig and Emma seem to get close, very close
1. Stupid

> Craig walked the halls of the school slowly that day, with his head down. He was ashamed of what he had done, and he couldn't go back and fix any of it. He had humiliated the one person who could have helped him through everything. Craig knew that announcing to Spinner what had gone on between he and Manny was a bad idea, but he couldn't hold it in any longer. He wanted someone besides he and Manny to know. Craig still couldn't understand why he didn't tell someone other than Spinner, but he supposed it just 'came out'.  
No one spoke to Craig until he reached his classroom. "Craig," a shocked voice came from in front of him. He hadn't removed his eyes from the ground once that morning.  
Craig looked up to see Emma standing in front of him. "Hey, Emma," Craig said.  
"I'm surprised you're here," Emma replied.  
"Why?"  
"Well, because of what happened yesterday," Emma said as Craig lowered his head once more.  
"Look, Emma, I know what happened, and I know there's nothing I can do to fix it, but is there any chance you could try not to remind me of it?"  
"Yeah, sure."  
"Great. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to class." Craig walked past Emma and into the classroom. Sitting down with his books in front of him, he felt like dying. He wished he had never said what he did, but it happened anyway. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he said as he slammed his head down on the table.  
"Hey, what's the matter?" came yet another voice, but this time from behind.  
Craig looked up to see Ashley standing behind him. "You mean, you don't know?" Craig asked, wondering why Ashley was questioning his behavior at that moment.  
"Well, I know what happened yesterday," Ashley replied as she sat in the chair beside Craig. "I just didn't know if maybe something else had gotten to you."  
"No, that's about it," Craig replied. "I screwed everything up, and now I'm paying for it."  
"I'm sorry," Ashley said as she removed her books from the bag she was carrying. "I know you and Manny were in a really good relationship and I-," she managed to say before Craig interrupted her.  
"Ash, I really don't need to be reminded of what Manny and I _had_, because we don't have that anymore. I messed everything up, and I really don't want to talk about it."  
"Okay, sorry, Craig."  
As Craig and Ashley's conversation ended, students began to file into the classroom. Spinner entered with Paige clinging to his arm. Spinner tried his hardest to avoid making eye contact with Craig. He knew he had done something wrong by talking to Jimmy and Hazel about Craig and Manny, but of course Spinner wasn't going to keep his mouth shut if he had the chance to open it.  
"Good morning, class," the teacher addressed the students as they took their seats. "Let us get started once everyone is seated." She turned around and wrote a few words on the board. The class began in silence. Craig sat with his head on his books, wanting to break down, but he knew that he couldn't. He had to be strong. He had to seem as though he wasn't crushed or hurt by what had happened.  
Class ended, and as Craig left the classroom, Ashley grabbed his arm. "Hey, wait up," she said.  
"What, Ash?" Craig asked, annoyed.  
"Want to hang out this afternoon? We could talk?" She asked.  
"No, Ash. I need to talk to Emma. I need to figure all this stuff out," Craig said as Ashley released his arm from her grasp.  
"Alright. Well, you know you can call me if you need anything."  
"Fine," Craig said as he walked off, destined to seek out Emma. He wanted to talk to her about how Manny was. He knew that things would be over between them, and he knew that Manny would never forgive him, but at least he knew her best friend would know what was going on, because he knew that Manny wouldn't speak to him.  
As he walked down the hall in search of Emma, he thought about all of the things he could have said to Spinner that day, instead of telling him what had happened between him and Manny. He knew he was an idiot for what he had done, but there wasn't much that could be done now, unless he found Emma.


	2. Arrangment

A/N: Well, thank you to the reviews I got (I'm surprised that I got any... so seriously, thanx!) Anyways, this story may not be too excellent, but hey, I'm trying!  
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, duh! And this story has no copyright saying that it is my work, so please do not rip off my story line, thank you....  
  
"Craig!" A voice yelled.  
"What!" Craig yelled back as he stopped in mid-step. He turned around to see Emma standing behind him. "Oh, Emma," he said as he turned.  
"Hey, sorry. I didn't think I was going to upset you," Emma said.  
"No, it's fine, I just am real sick of everyone telling me everything is going to be okay. I know it won't be, so what's the point?"  
"Yeah, I understand. I wasn't going to tell you that, but I just wanted to make sure that you were alright."  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Craig was surprised that Emma wasn't upset with him for hurting her best friend. "I was actually looking for you."  
"Oh, really? Why?" Emma asked, slightly flattered for some reason.  
"I was wondering if you and I could get together, maybe after school. I really need to talk to you about Manny."  
"Uh, that might work. I don't have anything planned. How about I give you a call after school and maybe we could get together."  
"Really?" Craig asked, surprised again. "Yeah, that sounds great."  
"Okay. Well, I'll see you later, Craig," Emma said as she patted the side of Craig's arm.  
"Okay, thanks, Emma."  
Craig and Emma parted ways as they both walked to their last class of the day. Craig wanted more than anything to make sure that Manny would at least get over what Craig had done, even if she never wanted to speak to him again.  
The day went on slowly, and Craig thought that he would never be let out of the hell he was already in. He knew that at least once he was home things would be a little less stressful. Seeing Spinner made everything harder for him, because he knew that Spinner had caused a lot of this trouble. Craig knew that Spinner wasn't really the reason, but he felt like he should have someone to blame it on, rather than putting it all on himself, though it was his fault. He wanted to confront Spinner, but he knew that wouldn't end very well. Spinner wasn't one of Craig's very good friends, so he wondered why he had sat there that day and told Spinner about Manny. He knew he was stupid, and he just needed to know that Manny was okay. She hadn't come to school that day, and she probably wouldn't attend the next day either.  
  
Craig went home and went up to his room. He placed his things down on a chair that was positioned close to his door, and he sat on his bed. He looked down at his phone to see that Emma had not yet called. He hoped she would call soon, because he didn't have anything to do, and he really needed to talk to her. Just then the phone rang, and Craig answered it. "Hello," he said, praying that it was Emma.  
"Hey, Craig," said the voice on the other side.  
"Oh, hey Sean. How's it going?"  
"Fine. I was just wondering if you wanted to get a bite to eat and hang out," Sean said.  
"No, man. I can't. I'm waiting for a phone call and then I have a bunch of work to do. Sorry," Craig said as he questioned whether or not Sean would ask whose call he was waiting for.  
"It's cool, man. I'll see you tomorrow, then?"  
"Yeah. Talk later." Craig hung up the phone after he heard Sean's line click. He waited for over an hour, just staring at the ceiling, creating designs with what he saw. He wondered if Emma was going to keep her commitment of calling him. As he sat and stared at the nothingness that was around him, the phone rang again. Craig reached for the phone without taking his eyes off of the ceiling. "Hello," he said as he clicked the 'talk' button.  
"Craig?" A female voice came from the other end.  
"Yeah. Is this Emma?" Craig asked as he sat up in his bed.  
"Yeah. How's it going?" She asked. She didn't really know what to ask, or what to say. "Are you busy at the moment?"  
"No, why?" Craig had completely forgotten about getting together with her.  
"Because I thought we were going to get together and talk about Manny."  
"Oh yeah. I forgot. I've sort of been spacing for the past hour or so."  
"It's fine. Would it be okay if I came over there? We could hang out and talk," she said, knowing that it was obvious that was what they had planned, but she still wasn't sure what to say.  
"Yeah, that's cool. Can you come over now?"  
"Yeah. I'll be over there as quick as I can," Emma said, realizing that what she had said sounded a little interesting. She wondered what he would think of what she just said. It made her sound like she wanted to see him more than anything, even though that wasn't the case. She just said that because that was the way it was going to be.  
"Alright. I'll see you soon." They both hung up their phones, and Craig jumped up quickly. He looked around his room to see what needed to be picked up and cleaned. He threw all of his clothes in his closet, and he placed everything that didn't have a place neatly on his desk. He was freaking out for some reason, and he couldn't figure out why. He liked Emma, but only as a friend. Why was he so worried about what she would think of his room? He didn't really care, but he knew there was something weird about why he was cleaning up so quickly and so frantically, and for Emma, not Manny.  
  
A/N: Sorry this update took so long, and that the chapter is really short, I've been having some internet malfunctions, and I haven't been able to update. Sorry! Anyways, I'll try to have a more interesting longer chapter up soon! -LCG 


End file.
